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Heikki "Hepa" Halme

saxophonist/ flutist
heikki-hepa-halme-2

Profile

Born1955
Groups

Hepa Halme (b. 1955) has had a musical career of more than three decades that has been characterized by his indifference to musical styles or categories. He became familiar with the traditions of the European classical music during his flute studies whereas his musicology studies opened the doors to the worlds of modern classical and experimental electronic music.

Halme's earliest sources for musical inspirations ranged from Finnish popular music to Jean Sibelius but his own music has, from the outset, been firmly rooted in the traditions of rock, blues and jazz. Gradually, the pallet available for his musical expression has expanded through various projects involving improvisation, performance art, dance and theatre.

Halme began performing and recording with various Finnish artists already in the 1970s. However, he became more broadly known particularly on the Helsinki scene through two groups, The Bullworkers and The Cool Sheiks, that performed and recorded in the 1980s and the early 1990s returning jazz-based music to the dance floors of Helsinki clubs. Around the turn of the millennium, Halme also performed in the duo Aivoaula with percussionist Teho Majamäki.

Over the years, Halme has increasingly focused on his work as a composer that began gradually through various smaller theatrical and film projects. Halme´s first recording as a leader, Nine Steps In Line Of Beauty, comprised nine "variations, improvisations or meditations" inspired by Ornette Coleman composition "Beauty Is A Rare Thing" and received considerable critical acclaim both in Finland and internationally. It was followed by Prospektor that consisted of seven compositions by Halme himself.

During the past decade, Hepa Halme also recorded as a member of a number of co-operative ensembles. These have included Torvikollektiivi, a large ensemble of improvising musicians with diverse backgrounds (Torvikollektiivi in 2004); Fat Beat Sound System, a group with DJ Bunuel, Jarmo Saari, Jukka Kiviniemi and Abdissa Assefa as well as visiting vocalists Hosni Boudali, Paleface and Tommy Lindgren, that combines Jamaican influences and African dance music (Quality in 2001, Beba Sheriff and Fala Fala in 2005, Late Downtown in 2006 and Feed The Vocalist in 2007); Bad Ass Brass Band, a 14-member marching band (The Bad Ass Brass Band in 2010); and HIK, a trio of Hepa Halme and Mikko Innanen on various saxophones, flutes and other instruments as well as Teemu Korpipää on live electronics (Piknik in 2011).